Rita Gorgonowa

Rita Gorgonowa (real name Emilia Margerita Gorgon, née Ilic) was a governess, and main character of one of the most infamous crime stories of the Second Polish Republic. Born on March 7, 1901 in Knin, Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary, she was found guilty of murder of Elzbieta Zaremba, daughter of Henryk Zaremba, an architect from Lwow. The murder, which took place on December 30, 1931, and the subsequent trial, were regarded as the biggest crime story of Poland at that time. Gorgonowa, who had a son and two daughters, died in unknown circumstances: her post-1939 fate has not been established.

Emilia Margerita Ilic was either of Serbian or Croatian origin. Her father was a physician, who died when she was three. Her mother later remarried.

At the age of 15, Margerita married a Colonel of the Austro-Hungarian Army, Erwin Gorgon. Probably in 1918 she gave birth to a son, and settled in Lwow, with her husband’s family. In 1921, Erwin Gorgon left Poland and in search of job immigrated to the United States. Soon afterwards, Rita was forced by her in-laws to leave their house, as they had wrongly accused her of immoral behaviour. Gorgonowa, who was regarded as a very attractive woman, left her son with the in-laws, and supported herself by babysitting.

In 1924, Rita became a governess at the house of a 41-year-old architect Henryk Zaremba. She lived at his villa, located in Brzuchowice, 7 kilometers from Lwow. Before employing her, Zaremba had separated from his wife, as she suffered from mental problems and had to be locked in a psychiatric ward. Zaremba and his ex-wife had two children: daughter Elzbieta (Lusia), born 1914, and son Stanislaw, born 1917.

Apart from baby sitting, Gorgonowa ran the house. After about a year, Rita and Henryk began an affair, which produced daughter Romana, born in 1928. Rita later claimed that she was hoping to marry the wealthy architect; close relationship between her and Henryk was noticed by teenage Lusia, who often argued about this with her father.

In the night of December 30/31 1931, Elzbieta (Lusia), who was sleeping in her bed, was hit in the head by a blunt object, probably an ice pick, and died on the spot. The murder was discovered by Stanislaw Zareba, who was awakened by a dog, and alarmed residents of the house. Doctor Ludwik Csala was called for, together with a police officer, who scanned the room.

Since circumstantial evidence pointed at Gorgonowa, she was immediately arrested. Also, Henryk Zaremba, suspected of cooperation with murderers, was locked for six weeks. Furthermore, police detectives interviewed a gardener and a teenage boy from Brzuchowice, who was secretly in love with Lusia.

During the interrogation, Gorgonowa maintained her innocence. Police specialists came to the conclusion, that the murder had been carried out by a resident of the house, as there were no footsteps on the windowsill and in the snow around the building. Furthermore, no traces of a break-in were found, and family dog Lux did not bark that night. According to official police report, Gorgonowa crossed the corridor from her room to Lusia’s room, killing the girl. She then opened the window, and penetrated her victim’s vagina with a finger, trying to make it appear as a rape. Upon leaving Lusia’s room, Gorgonowa noticed Lux the dog, whom she hit in the head. The canine wailed, waking Stas Zaremba, who was sleeping in the dining room. The boy entered the corridor, noticing a person dressed in a sheepskin, standing next to a Christmas tree. Stas later claimed that it was Rita.

Unable to get back to her bedroom, Gorgonowa ran out through front door. While entering her bedroom, she broke a small window, cutting her finger. She then changed her nightdress, and joined other residents of the house, who had been alarmed by Stas. On December 31, Gorgonowa threw the ice pick into a pool, losing a candle. Later on, a bloodstained handkerchief was found, also traces of blood were found on Rita’s sheepskin. The blood on the handkerchief and the sheepskin was type A, while Gorgonowa’s blood was type 0. Nevertheless, findings of police experts were undermined by famous scientist from Lwow, Ludwik Hirszfeld.

On May 14, 1932, after a short trial, District Court at Lwow sentenced Rita Gorgonowa to death. Due to a number of legal mistakes and appeals of her defence (Mieczyslaw Ettinger of Warszawa, Jozef Wozniakowski of Krakow and Maurycy Axer of Lwow), the verdict was later changed by the Supreme Court. While in prison, Margerita gave birth to daughter Ewa (September 20, 1932). In the meantime, her case was moved to District Court in Krakow, which on April 29, 1933, sentenced Rita to eight years. Gorgonowa was to be released on May 24, 1940, but due to German Invasion of Poland, she was released on September 3, 1939.

Further fate of Rita Gorgonowa is unknown. Her daughters claim that she survived World War II. According to some sources, she moved to Silesia or ran a newsstand in Opole. Other sources claim that she left Poland and settled in South America.

In 1977, a feature film The Case of Gorgonowa was made by director Janusz Majewski, with Ewa Dalkowska playing the role of Rita. In 2014, Rita’s daughter Ewa and daughter in-law Margarita Ilic-Lisowska declared their intention to re-open the trial and change of the verdict.